Saint Nicholas, The Christmas Saint

It was the night before Christmas,

When all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.

That is the beginning of a famous Christmas poem. It is called A Visit from Saint Nicholas, by Clement C.
Moore. The poem describes a house on the night before Christmas. Nothing is moving, not even a small brown
mouse. The family has hung stockings by the fire. Usually, they wear these stockings on their feet. But tonight,
they hope that Saint Nicholas will come and fill their stockings with sweet treats and gifts. The poem continues,
and tells a story about a father who sees Saint Nicholas bring these gifts to his house during the night.

Many countries around the world have stories about Saint Nicholas. The stories are based on a real man
called Saint Nicholas. Over time the details of the stories change. They are no longer real stories from history.
But the stories explain different Christmas traditions. Today’s Spotlight is on the many Christmas stories about
Saint Nicholas.

The real Saint Nicholas was born during the third century in a village near Myra, which is now in Turkey. His
parents were very devoted followers of Jesus. And they raised their son to be a follower of Jesus too. When
Nicholas was young, his parents died from disease. But he remembered the values his parents taught him.

As an adult, Nicholas remembered one particular teaching from the Christian Bible. It was to care for poor
and sick people. In the Christian Bible, Jesus tells his followers to sell their things and give to the poor. Nicholas
could not forget these words. He gave away lots of his money to the poor. And he helped people who were sick
or suffering. There are many stories about his secret giving. It is not clear if these stories are true. But they show
how much he cared for poor people. Nick Page tells one version of one of the most famous stories.

A father had three daughters. At that time, there was a custom for marriage – a dowry. The father offered
a gift to the man who wanted to marry his daughter. Without this gift, it was not likely for a woman to find a
husband. But the father was very poor. He did not have enough money for this custom. So he planned to sell one
of his daughters. He thought if he did this he would be able to care for his other daughters.

Nicholas heard about the father’s problem. He went to the father’s house the night before the daughter
was going to be sold. The daughter had washed her stockings and hung them by the fire to dry. Nicholas threw a
small bag of gold into one of the stockings. Then he left. In the morning, the man discovered the gold. Now he
did not need to sell his daughter. Instead he was able to find a husband for his daughter. In a year, it was time for
his next daughter to be married. But the man was still poor. Once again, Nicholas came during the night. And
again, he threw a bag of gold into a stocking.

Finally, when it was time for his third daughter to marry, the man waited. He wanted to know who was
giving the gifts. For a final time, a bag of gold came through his window. This time, the man was ready. He ran
out of the house and the person he saw was Nicholas. But Nicholas demanded that the man keep this knowledge
a secret.

Over time, Nicholas became well-known for his kind, generous giving. People also knew that he was a
follower of Jesus. He even became a bishop — a religious leader — of the city of Myra. As a bishop, Nicholas
continued to serve poor, sick, and suffering people. Years after he died, people wanted to honor him for devoting
his life to God and caring for people. So they named him a saint.

Many countries have created stories about Saint Nicholas as a secret gift-giver. Often the stories are for
children. Saint Nicholas considers how children have behaved all year. Then, he gives them good gifts for good
behaviour and bad gifts for bad behaviour. These stories explain Christmas traditions. For example, in many
European countries, children leave their shoes out for Saint Nicholas. They hope he will fill their shoes with
treats.

There are also other stories about Saint Nicholas. In Greece, he is not a secret gift-giver. Instead, he is the
saint who protects sailors. It is said that in bad weather, sailors would pray to Saint Nicholas. Then he would
appear to them like a dream. He would guide them to safety and could make the storms go away.

It is not clear exactly when Saint Nicholas died. But many people believe that he died in the year 343 A.D.
He was then buried in the city of Myra. Because of his goodness, many religious people travelled to the place he
was buried. But during the 11th century, there was war in the area of Myra. A group of sailors used the war as a
chance to steal the bones of Saint Nicholas. They brought them to Bari, Italy. That is where Saint Nicholas is
buried today.

If you believe the stories, Saint Nicholas is the Christmas saint. In many European countries, he is called
Saint Nicholas. In Italy he is San Nicola. In the Netherlands they call him Sinterklaas. In the United States, he is
Santa Claus. And in Britain, he is Father Christmas. He has many names, but the idea of the person is the same.
He is a gift-giver who brings good cheer at Christmas time.

But Saint Nicholas believed in a very different kind of Christmas gift. Christians like Saint Nicholas celebrate
Christmas as a time to remember Jesus’ birth. Christians believe that Jesus was a gift to the world. They believe
he was both God and human. And because Jesus lived as a human, he knows what it is like to have pain and hurt,
joys and happiness. Christians believe that in Jesus’ birth, God comes to earth. God brought the gift of hope to a
broken world.

The history of paper

Every day more people in the world use computers and other technology to communicate. Many books
are now available on the internet. People write emails, and text messages, instead of letters. In many places,
people do not even use physical money to pay for things any more. All these technologies are replacing one of
the most important materials in history: paper. Today’s Spotlight is on paper, its history and its importance in the
world today.

Many people believe that paper started with the ancient Egyptians. However, this is not exactly true.
Instead, 5000 years ago, Egyptians used a material called papyrus. They made papyrus from the stems of river
plants. They put these flat pieces together, to create a larger flat sheet. Ancient Egyptians wrote on these sheets
like paper.

But the paper we know today did not exist until 3000 years later. It was created in China. Before the
invention of paper, people in China would write on pieces of bone, bamboo or costly cloth. No one knows who
first invented paper. But history does tell us about one man who improved the process. It was in the year 105. A
man named Cai Lun began to experiment. He used many materials to make paper. He took bark from the outside
of trees, pieces of net normally used to catch fish, and pieces of cloth rags. He broke these materials down into
very small pieces. He put all these materials into a large container of water, to mix them. Then he removed this
material, using a screen. When he pressed out the water, all that was left was a thin sheet of paper. He
presented this new way of making paper to the Emperor. The Emperor was very happy and gave Cai Lun much
money.

Paper quickly spread to other areas of the world. In the Middle East, people made paper thicker. They also
made it easier to produce quickly. From the Middle East, paper travelled to Europe and then the Americas. For
many years paper cost a lot of money and time to create. But in the 19th century, people began to use steam
powered machines to create paper from wood. Paper is still made from wood today in large factories around the
world.
 Paper changed the way people lived. Long ago, when paper was difficult to make, people only used paper
for special purposes. Religious leaders would write holy words on it. Government officials would write important
laws on it. Explorers drew maps of the world on it. But normal, common people did not use it. As paper became
easier to make, it was used for more things. People wrapped it around gifts. Anyone could use paper to make
notes and write down information. Paper was also used as money.

Today people use paper for even more things. Paper cloths clean up dirt. Many products are sold in
cardboard boxes made from paper. People drink water and other drinks out of paper cups.

But this creates a new problem – the problem of waste. When we are done using paper, it does not just
disappear. Some paper can be recycled – it can be made into new paper. But a lot of paper simply becomes
waste, or garbage. It is burned for energy, or stored in large landfills. Paper does biodegrade, or break down over
time but it does not happen quickly. As the paper breaks down it releases harmful gasses into the air. In the
United States, paper makes up one third of all waste. In just that country, that is 85 million tons per year!

But this is not the only problem that paper can cause. In the past, paper included materials from cloth,
waste paper, and other fibres from plants. But today, most paper comes from trees. Many of these trees come
from very old forests around the world. Today, only 20 percent of the world’s ancient forests still exist. Around
the world, every two seconds, people cut down more than 4,000 square meters of trees. And many of those
trees became paper.

These ancient forests cannot be replaced. Forests provide oxygen for animals and humans. They store the
gas carbon dioxide, which can cause global warming. Cutting down trees can also destroy environmental
systems. The birds, plants and animals that live there may also die. Some companies plant new trees when they
cut down forests. But it takes a long time for new trees to grow. Often, these newly planted trees are all the
same kind of tree. This is called a monoculture. A monoculture forest can get diseases easier. If one tree gets
sick, all the same kind of trees get sick. When forests have many different kind of trees, they can resist disease
easier.

Creating the paper can also cause environmental problems. Large paper factories use chemicals to make paper
white. They also use a lot of water to create the paper. The chemicals pollute the water. If the factories release the
water without removing the chemicals, the water can then pollute rivers and lakes. The chemicals in the water can
also cause health problems.

So what can be done to help reduce the number of trees being cut down for paper? What can a person do
to change their paper impact on the world?

The first step is to try to use less paper. Could you clean with a cloth instead of paper? Can you use less
paper in your office or home? Can you re-use the paper used to cover a gift?

Next, look at the kind of paper you use. Most paper can be reused in some way. Old paper can be turned
into new paper through recycling. By recycling paper like this, less trees have to be cut down. It takes less energy
to recycle paper than it does to make new paper from trees. Are there ways to recycle paper where you live?

Many companies make products from post-consumer materials. This means that instead of cutting down trees
to make the paper products, they use recycled paper. Buying these recycled paper products can save a lot of trees,
water and energy.

In many places, people can also buy paper that comes from forests that are sustainably harvested. This
means that when the trees in these forests are cut down, people make sure that it will not damage the
environment of the forest.

Paper has been an important part of history. It has made many things possible. And even though people
are using less paper, it is still very important to us today. But it is up to us to make sure that paper does not harm
the world. It is our responsibility to give it a positive future.
 Richard III: The Crooked King

More than five centuries ago, two armies fought a great battle. The battle ended years of civil war in
England. On one side of the battle field was the army of King Richard III. On the other side was the army of Henry
Tudor. Henry wanted to become king.

During the battle, King Richard saw a chance to kill Henry. Richard rode his horse quickly toward Henry. He
killed many of Henry’s soldiers. But then, King Richard’s horse became stuck in the wet battlefield. The king fell.
He fought hard, but there were too many enemy soldiers around him. The soldiers crushed Richard’s head and
killed him. Later, they carried his dead body through the streets for all the people to see.

Religious leaders finally buried Richard’s body in a nearby church. But years later the church was
destroyed. And Richard’s body was forgotten. Today’s Spotlight is on the recent discovery of Richard III’s body.
This news about his death has caused many people to look again at his life.

Richard III was the last king of England to die in battle. His body did not receive honour. He was not buried
in Westminster Abbey, the great Christian church in London where many English kings are buried. He was also
not buried where he wanted to be. Richard wanted to be buried at his family home near the ancient city of York.
Instead King Richard was buried in the city of Leicester, near the battle field where he died. And there he lay,
forgotten.

Hundreds of years went by. The church building had been destroyed long ago. The city around Richard’s
body had changed. No one knew where his bones were. Then, in 2012, a team of experts began a new search.
These archaeologists were looking for the body of King Richard. But they were not looking in a place that would
honour a king. The team was digging under a car park, a place where people leave their cars.

Soon, the team found human bones. Immediately, they thought it was King Richard. They thought this
because the skeleton’s spine was unusual. This bone in the middle of a human’s back is usually straight.
However, the spine they found was bent or crooked. And history books had long told of how King Richard’s spine
was crooked.

The archaeologists wanted to be sure it was King Richard. So, they performed many tests on the skeleton.
Many things proved that the bones were Richard III’s, including DNA tests.

However, many people believed it was Richard just because of the reports about the crooked spine. For
hundreds of years, people had remembered Richard for this. Artists painted pictures of Richard with one of his
shoulders higher than the other. And writers told stories of ‘crooked’ Richard. However, crooked has another
meaning too. For example, people say that criminals are crooked. This means that their character is not straight
and honest.

Many people say that Richard III was a crooked king – both in the way he looked and in his character. This
is how England’s greatest writer, William Shakespeare, described King Richard. Over 400 years ago, Shakespeare
wrote a famous play about Richard III. At this time, many people believed that a disability was a sign of evil. So
Shakespeare made Richard even more disabled in his play. His character did not just have a crooked back. He
also had an arm that did not work. In the play, Richard also murdered his brother. And he made secret plans to
steal power.

Shakespeare’s play is not historically true. However, his work has shaped many people’s opinions of King
Richard III. Shakespeare wrote his drama when the granddaughter of Henry Tudor ruled England. And here is the
problem. Most of our information about Richard III comes from people who supported Henry Tudor and his
family.

There is another famous story about Richard’s crooked character. This is not a story from literature. It is a
mysterious story from history. But no one knows the full truth. It is the story of ‘The Princes in the Tower.
 Richard’s older brother, Edward, had been king before him. He died, but his two sons were too young to
rule the country. So Richard took his brother’s place. He was supposed to protect the young boys from their
enemies. He was supposed to take care of the country, until his oldest nephew could rule.

But the boy princes disappeared. They were never seen again. Richard became king instead. Followers of
Henry Tudor said Richard killed his brother’s sons. Others believe that Richard cared for the boys, but that Henry
had them killed when he became king. However, what exactly happened is still a mystery today.

We do know some facts about Richard. Richard lived in a dangerous time. Powerful men spent much time
plotting against each other. And he did have many of his strongest enemies killed.

But other facts do not match the stories about Richard’s crooked character. While his brother Edward was
king, Richard was loyal to him. As a soldier, he fought for Edward in many battles. Richard also had a loving
relationship with his wife and his own son.

We also know that his people loved Richard. He gave money to universities and churches. He did many
things to help the poor. This does not seem like the kind of person who would murder his brother’s children!

We may never know the truth about Richard III. The history of his life seems to be crooked too! However,
like all people, Richard was probably a mix of good and evil. This is exactly what Philippa Langley believes.
Langley is a film writer. She has long believed that Richard was not as evil as many people think. She is part of an
organization that defends Richard’s character. And she was one of the people responsible for finding Richard’s
body. Langley hopes the discovery will create discussion about his life. Langley told the New York Times
newspaper,

“The truth will turn out to be somewhere in between. Richard III was a man of his time. But what we know of
him does not equal him being a vicious man and a purely evil killer. Now, we may be able to finally discover who
the real Richard is.”

Picture stories

Imagine this situation: It is 1985. Russia and the United States are enemies. In New York City, a man dies.This
was not a normal man. He was a superhero known as The Comedian. Superheroes with amazing powers used to
keep the United States safe. But now, most superheroes have retired or lost their power. People in the United
States are afraid. They fear nuclear war. They worry it could happen at any time. Many of the nation’s superheroes
are afraid of what is happening. But one of these heroes must decide: should he save the human race, or let them
die?

This is the story Watchmen, a book by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. However, Watchmen is not a normal
book. It is a graphic novel. Graphic novels use both pictures and words to tell a long story. Today’s Spotlight is on
graphic novels.

Early graphic novels started in the 1930s as comic books. A comic book tells a short story with pictures and
few words. Each page of a comic book includes several squares with pictures. The pictures show what is happening
in the story. The pictures also have words with them. These words express what the characters are saying or
thinking. And each picture tells the next part of the story.

At first, comic books were like magazines. Each monthly comic would include a small part of a larger story.
Often these stories were about superheroes or other non-human characters. People would have to wait each
month to read the next part of the superhero’s story. But in the 1970s, publishers began creating longer comic
books. They did this by putting together the stories from all the comic books in a series. Soon, writers wrote longer
and longer stories using comic book design. They called these longer books graphic novels.

Graphic novels combine two kinds of storytelling – writing and narrative or story art. Sometimes, a writer can
have a good story idea, but she wants to tell her story with more than just words. So she creates pictures of her
characters. These pictures show what a character looks like. But they can also show what the characters are doing.
By combining pictures and words, the writer can show special details. She can also tell a more complex story with
fewer words.

Like all stories, writers create graphic novels for many reasons. Some graphic novels teach a moral lesson. Some
are just for fun. And others help readers learn about other people, times and cultures. Not all graphic novels are
about superheroes. In fact, some of the most famous graphic novels are true stories. They are about events and
situations that happened to real people.

One famous example is the novel Maus. The novel’s writer is named Art Spiegelman. He lives in New York
City. In the early 1980s, he wrote Maus about his father’s experience during World War II. During World War II, the
German Nazi army fought for control of Europe. They also tried to rid European countries of particular groups of
people – including the Jews. They killed millions of people in planned executions, and in prison camps.

Speigelman’s father was named Vladek. Vladek ran a factory in Poland before the war. And Vladek was
Jewish. During the war, Nazis took Vladek’s factory away. They moved him to the huge prison work camp called
Auschwitz. Most Jews that went to Auschwitz did not survive. But Vladek did. After the war, he moved to New York
City.

Vladek told his story to his son. And Speigelman decided to make a graphic novel about his father’s
experience. But instead of creating a story about people, Speigelman made the characters of the story animals.

In the graphic novel Maus, the Jews are small animals called mice. The Nazis are cats. People from Poland are
pigs and people from America are dogs. There are many stories of survival from the Holocaust, but Maus makes the
reader look at the story of survival in a new way.

People often consider cartoons, like the drawn pictures of animals in Maus, to be funny or childlike. So, some
people may think using animal characters makes Maus less serious. However, Lev Grossman would disagree.
Grossman is a writer for Time Magazine. He believes using cartoons in Maus makes people notice again a story we
may have forgotten. He wrote,

“Those mice are more human than most people.”

Craig Thompson is another graphic novel writer. As a boy, he loved reading comic books. As an adult, he
rediscovered comics and began writing graphic novels. Thompson enjoys creating graphic novels because it
combines many of his skills. He told Mother Jones magazine,

“…One person can do it all — do the character designs and create the background setting and write the
story.”

In 2003, Thompson wrote a graphic novel called Blankets. This story is based on his young adult life.
Thompson enjoys using his art skills to connect with other people. The beauty of his art communicates much
emotion and struggle. Many people can relate to Thompson’s story. He asks questions about the faith he was
raised to believe. He also tells about his first love. In his story, many people see their own story of growing up.

For many people, graphic novels help them feel closer to the story emotionally. They do not just read the
words. Instead they look at the pictures too. Readers are also part of the creative process. They must imagine what
happens between the pictures and few words the writer provides. They must work harder to understand the story.
And for many readers, this helps them remember the story better.

The best thing about graphic novels may be the slowness of the reading process. Graphic novels provide a
chance to slow down and think about the story. Thompson told Mother Jones,

“There is something natural about the slowness of reading graphic novels. There is something natural about
wanting to resist the fast speed of modern, popular culture. With the graphic novel, it is the opposite of fast speed
popular culture – it is about resisting all the internet culture.”

Who Was Sherlock Holmes?

 In the 1800s in England, there were frightening stories. The stories told of a huge dog that hunted the
Baskerville family. It was not a normal dog. The dog was cursed. The stories said it glowed with a kind of light. And
it could disappear like a ghost. They said the dog killed Charles Baskerville.

But detective Sherlock Holmes did not believe these stories. He was a man of science. He went to the
Baskerville home with his friend, Dr. Watson. Holmes examined the place where Charles Baskerville died. It seemed
like there was no answer – until Holmes found the pawprint. It was the marking of a very real, solid dog. And
around it was a pale green paint that glowed in the dark.

Holmes took some of the paint and put it between his fingers. He sniffed it and smiled. “The game is afoot,
Watson,” he said. With this one clue, he already knew how to solve the crime.

This is from one of the most famous stories of Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes was not a real detective –
he was a character in books. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a famous writer from Scotland. He created Sherlock
Holmes in 1887. But Sherlock Holmes is more than just any character in a book. He is one of the most popular
characters in the history of the world. People are still writing about Sherlock Holmes. And he changed the way that
detectives solve crimes. Today’s Spotlight is on Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes is a complicated character. Holmes is a detective – he solves crimes like murders and
burglaries. He notices very small details that other people do not see. He makes quick decisions. And he can
remember very complicated things very easily. He is very intelligent, but he is also very messy. Holmes solved
almost every mystery he ever faced. He also has a very good friend called Dr. Watson who is always part of the
story.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never wrote where Sherlock Holmes was born. But the idea for Holmes came from
two places. The first was Conan Doyle’s professor, Joseph Bell. Joseph Bell was a surgeon at the University of
Edinburgh. Like Holmes, he noticed small details. He could discover what happened to a person just by looking at
their injuries. But other books also helped Conan Doyle invent Sherlock Holmes. The most important was called The
Murders in the Rue Morgue. It was by a man named Edgar Allan Poe. The Murders in the Rue Morgue was one of
the first detective stories. It follows a man named Auguste Dupin as he solves two murders. He is much like Holmes
in the way he solves the case!

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle loved The Murder in the Rue Morgue. But he felt that there were problems with the
story. Auguste Dupin solved the murders with a lot of skill. But the way he solved his crimes was not based on
evidence. Conan Doyle wanted to create a detective who solved crimes by carefully looking around him. The
detective would do what Joseph Bell did with injuries. But Conan Doyle’s detective would do it with crime scenes.
He would use the latest science. And he would use his wits and intelligence, instead of relying on chance.

In 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote his first Sherlock Holmes story. It was called A Study in Scarlet. It is a
murder mystery that happens when Sherlock Holmes is young. In it, Conan Doyle describes Holmes as a very
strange person. He is alone most of the time. And he is not good in social situations. But he is brilliant in his
deductions. This is what he calls it when he examines all evidence in great detail. Then, he imagines how the crime
could have happened. This method of crime solving works extremely well. Holmes captures the murderer in three
days!

A Study in Scarlet did not sell extremely well. But Conan Doyle kept writing Sherlock Holmes stories. Soon, his
stories were some of the most popular of his time. And Sherlock Holmes became one of the most well-respected
characters in the English-speaking world. This is partly because of Holmes’ special way of solving crime. No one had
ever seen anything like it!

One of his most popular stories was called The Adventure of Silver Blaze. In this story, detectives from the
government approach Holmes. They ask him to solve two crimes. The first to find a stolen racehorse called Silver
Blaze. The second is to solve the murder of the man who took care of the horse, the groom. The police believe that
they have the murderer. He is a stranger who bet money against Silver Blaze. But the police cannot prove it. They are
hoping Holmes will help support their theory.

Instead, when Holmes arrives, he quickly proves that the police are wrong. He examines the crime scene and
realizes Silver Blaze was not stolen. After the murder no one led the horse back to its stable. Instead, the horse
wandered off. This meant that the groom was the only person with the horse when he died. Holmes also realizes
that a stranger could not steal Silver Blaze. There was a dog that guarded the horses. It would have barked at a
stranger. But it did not make a sound.

Holmes understands that no person killed the groom. Instead, the horse was the murderer! The groom was
trying to hurt the horse. He wanted to win a bet where Silver Blaze lost. But the horse kicked its leg when it felt
pain. It crushed the groom’s skull, then ran away.

For many people, this was a new kind of story. It changed the way people wrote about crime. Even today,
people are writing and making films about Sherlock Holmes. Current television shows like Sherlock, House (M.D.),
and Elementary are inspired by Holmes. In fact, Sherlock Holmes has a record in the Guinness Book of World
Records. He is the most portrayed human character in film and television history!

But Sherlock Holmes changed more than just literature. He changed the way people investigated crimes! Dr.
Ian Burney is a historian who studies crime scene investigation. He also studies Sherlock Holmes. He says:

“During that time, there were people who investigated crime scenes. But they did not have a system. They
were not scientific in the way they went about their work. These stories showed new ways of investigating crimes.
In them, Holmes protects the crime scene. He records everything. He looks at everything, even the very small
evidence, with science. It is surprising, but clear. Sherlock Holmes was a major influence on the crime scene as we
know it today.”

In this way, Holmes was just as important as a living detective. He helped people understand how detectives
investigate crimes. He used real methods, like fingerprinting. And he explained every step he took. He made crime
scene investigation make sense. And he helped make crime scene investigation something people use all over the
world. Laura J. Snyder is a professor at St. John’s University. She wrote in the Journal Endeavor:

“By creating a ‘scientific detective’, Conan Doyle gave the public a criminal catcher they could trust. Sherlock
Holmes did not invent criminal science. But he did more than any other person to show it as a valuable tool in
criminal investigation.”